Lie
by Nights Sleepless
Summary: I just need someone to lie to me and say it'll be alright. Set during "Bound". Bolivia. Ratings for minor language.


So, I had the song 'Lie' by David Cook stuck in my head a couple days ago, and totally got the idea for this fic from the line "So lie to me and tell me that it's gonna be alright," Which I thought sounded pretty dang perfect. I started to write it last week, but distracted by finals and such (they're over tomorrow yay!) and stuff. So, it's set around "Bound". Oh my gosh, but did you guys see the last episode? The way Rachel was flirting with Peter. Grr. Just, grrr. And slighty drunk Peter at the end was so frickin adorable! Okay, so back to the fic...hope you enjoy it, as always!

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He had been on the way to the store that night. Walter was insisting on some mint chocolate ice cream, and would not stop reciting the scientific formula aloud until Peter got it. Finally caving in, knowing full well that Walter would keep his promise, Peter got in the car and drove off. Unfortunately, the brand of ice cream that Walter wanted was only sold at Mark's Market, which was almost fifteen minutes away. Sometimes his father could really piss Peter off, even though he tried to handle him well. Surprisingly, however, Peter had adjusted very quickly here. Of course, he got a little nervous every time he was in a car by himself. One right turn and he could be out of this city, and away from here.

Chuckling to himself, he thought that might not matter. Olivia would probably find him and drag him back by his collar. She threatened him with a non-existent file to get him here in the first place. No, it seemed pointless. Even if he did somehow convince her and everyone else to leave him alone, he'd regret it the rest of his life. Being here seemed to...fit. He had never stayed in one place for so long, it felt both odd and refreshing. That didn't mean he didn't eye the gas tank meter, wondering how far he could get before they came and dragged him back.

Passing by the Harvard College, he mentally cringed. There had been so many strange things that happened in the basement lab. Parasites that attached themselves to your heart, the common cold enlarged bigger than his hand, intercepting thoughts, hypnotizing Christmas lights. It was all really too much for a normal person to handle. He knew he could, that he wasn't going to snap at any moment. But that didn't mean there wasn't the possibility. He worried about it everyday.

Just as he was tearing his eyes away to look back at the road, he saw Olivia's car in the parking lot. It was almost eight o'clock, what was she doing there? Without thinking about it, he turned into the parking lot and parked right next to her car. Getting out, he pulled his jacket closer. That's what drove him insane. The weather. He never needed a heavy jacket and scarf when he was in Iraq. Jogging across the large parking lot, he quickly used one of the back doors he had a key for.

No doubt she would be in the lab. They never ventured very far off besides that. He just hated the way his shoes echoed in the hallway. The door leading into their lab was left ajar, and he slowly reached out, and pushed it open. He opened his mouth to call her name, but decided against it. Walking in, he surveyed the room. It was dimly lit, the only light coming from the light in Olivia's "office". But he couldn't see her through the windows. Silently, he crept over and slowly opened the door.

The first thing he saw were papers strewn on the far wall, just by her desk. As if someone had deliberately thrown them. The second thing he saw, was her. She was sitting on floor opposite the wall from the desk. She was hugging her legs to herself, and had her face buried in her knees. She was trembling violently, and Peter felt the fear and concern wash over him. "Liv?" He asked. She looked up, and he was horrified to see tears running down her cheeks. She had slightly pink blotches on her face, and red eyes, which he could guess was from serious sobbing and crying. Quickly, he jumped over to her, kneeling down. "Olivia."

"I'm sorry," She said, looking away from him. Her voice cracked, and her breath caught. She took a shaky breath and tried to wipe the evidence from her cheeks. "I shouldn't-" She struggled to stand up.

"No," He told her, putting a hand on her arm. She stopped and looked at him. Suddenly she broke out into sobs and buried her face in her hands. He so wanted to pull her to him, to wrap his arms around her and kiss her hair. But he knew his boundaries. It would be the wrong thing to do. Besides, she was leaning away from him, onto the wall. "What's wrong?" He asked, daring to gently stroke her hair when she stopped sobbing and caught her breath.

"Everything!" She said. "Look at this, Peter." She gestured towards the lab. He could tell she working so hard to keep her voice even. "I was abducted, then told by the man who's wife I had just killed, that he was trying to save me. The same man who had killed two people by giving them a super-sized version of the common cold!" Shaking her head, she looked away from him. "How is any of this believable?"

He desperately searched for something to tell her, but it did sound rather 'out there' when she put it like that. So, instead, he simply replied, "I know." He continued to stroke her hair, very lightly. He couldn't bring himself to pull his hand away. He knew he wasn't meant to see her like this. She would pretend it had never happened by tomorrow morning, and he just might let her. It was the least he could to take some sort of weight off her shoulders. God knows she carries enough.

"I just-..." Shaking her head, she turned to look at him, fresh tears spilling onto her delicate cheeks. "I just need someone to lie to me and say it'll be alright."

Sighing, he looked her in her teary eyes. "Liv, I'm not going to lie to you," He told her and she watched him for a moment. "I don't know if it'll all be alright." He owed her the truth, and he really did not want to lie to her. She closed her eyes and leaned into the wall again. "But...I do know you'll make it. You're strong."

"Not now," She mumbled.

"Yes, now. You're not letting all of this keep you from being human. That's the strongest thing I know!" He explained, and he saw a new tear slip down her cheek.

"I don't need your sympathy," She snapped, moving to stand up. This time he let her.

"Good, because I don't feel sorry for you." The words came out harsher than he intended as he stood up as well. But she needed to know that wasn't what this was all about. He didn't worry about her because he didn't think she wasn't tough enough to get out of the mess she was in. He worried about her because he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something did happen to her. Because that in the process of getting out of the mess she was in, she could be seriously hurt, and he wouldn't be able to help her.

He watched her as she moved towards the strewn papers and began to pick them up. "Just go, Peter," She told him, and he hesitated. She was definitely going to hate him for this.

"No, Liv. I'm not going to go," He almost snapped, and she roughly threw the pile of papers onto the desk. But he held his ground, and watched her with intense eyes as she whipped around to face him. "Not until we talk this out."

"What's there to talk about?" She asked, and he could see she had wiped all the tears from her cheeks, and her cheeks were getting their color back. No, now instead her eyes looked angry and annoyed, rather than lost and desperate. Three steps. That's all it would take to get to her and pull her to him. But he stood still.

"Liv." He said her name softly, and her anger faded for a moment. That glimpse of confusion and relief was enough to bring him a step closer. "Don't pretend everything is fine this time."

"I need a minute alone," She said, evenly, almost glaring at him.

Damn it, Liv. He thought to himself, although he couldn't voice his frustration. He watched her, and could see her hands trembling lightly. Right now, he just wanted to be there for her. But he couldn't if she didn't let him. "Okay, fine," He said, letting the desperation leak into his voice to let her know how much this was hard for him to do. "If you want me to leave you alone, I will." He waited for her to respond and tell him to leave, but she just stood there. Sighing, he backed away and turned around.

Just as he was walking through the doorway she seemed to find her voice. "Wait!" He smiled to himself, but bit it back before turning around to face her. "I'm sorry, I just- I need...I-" But he was already to her. She stepped forward and rested her forehead on his shoulder, still keeping physical contact to a minimal, like the first day she went into the tank. He placed a hand on her neck, resting his cheek on her head, while his other hand lightly wrapped around her back. He could feel her body shake with sobs, and he felt grateful to be her shoulder to cry on. He knew this must be hard for her to do.

"Shhh," He whispered in her ear while his hand rubbed circles on her back. She sobbed, and he longed to pull her closer. But, dammit, there were all these rules and boundaries. All these complications and shouldn't-do's. Anger flooded him at how he was supposed to be distant, when he wanted exactly the opposite. So, him being the stubborn rule breaker, he tightened his hold around her back and pulled her body closer to his. She stiffened and her sobs stopped, although she still trembled. Peter frowned, knowing he had just really messed this up.

But then something completely unexpected happened. Her hands, which had been resting on his shoulders, slid down his chest and wrapped around his back. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and buried his face in her hair. She still trembled and he thought to hold her tighter, but didn't want to take another risk. So, instead, he stood there with her, wishing that he could fix everything to make her stop crying. He hated the way she had been tossed into this unwillingly. That she had absolutely no choice. But then he thought for a moment. She did have a choice. She could turn around right now and run from all this like he often did. But she stayed to make everything right again. She was ten times a better person than he knew he was.

Lost in thought, he didn't realize she had stopped shaking at first. He knew this was the moment to pull away, but his arms felt rock solid around her. Well he had to do something! Hesitantly, he pulled back from her, but only enough to look her in the eye. But she was more reluctant to meet his, as she stared at his shoulder, which he was sure was covered in tears even if he couldn't feel them. "Liv." He said her name, and she finally looked up into his eyes. Her hands moved back to his chest slowly, and he knew she was debating on pulling away.

And she did pull away, nodding to him. "Thanks."

He managed a charming half smile and replied, "No problem." She turned around and grabbed her jacket.

"I should go...Rachel is waiting for me..." Oh, the urge to reach out to her was so intense he had to clasp his hands behind his back to keep from doing so. She looked so beautiful right now, even with her eyes red and her cheeks tinted pink with embarrassment. "I'll, uh, see you later." And she was moving towards the door.

"Liv!" He sighed with relief when she looked at him. Stepping towards her, he couldn't resist but to lean down and kiss her on the cheek. He felt her in take a sharp breath and release it by his ear. Pulling back he smiled at her, and the corners of her mouth moved upwards just by the slightest. "Everything will be alright."

"Yeah. I know." Nodding she pulled her jacket on and moved away from him and out the door. Running his hand through his hair he shook his head, disbelieving, to himself. It better!

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I feel like writing another fic, that's fluff after this one. Mmm...I'll get on that. So did you enjoy?


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